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  • Glory to God for All Things

    The Theological Task of Orthodoxy - A Further Word

    January 20, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Last October I ran the following quote from Fr. Georges Florovsky: Orthodoxy is summoned to witness. Now more than ever the Christian West stands before divergent prospects, a living question addressed also to the Orthodox world… The ā€˜old polemical theology’ has long ago lost its inner connection with any reality. Such theology was an academic discipline, and was always elaborated according to the same western ā€˜textbooks.’ A historiosophical exegesis of the western…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    The Alpha and the Omega

    January 18, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    As Christ walked in the midst of the people of Israel an event that was far more than historical took place. The One who was in the midst of them is also the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Strange paradox that you should meet and encounter a person who is Himself the beginning and the ending of all things. This paradox has led to many of the more…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Riddled with the Worm of Bad Temper

    January 17, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    We ought to be very careful to keep watch on ourselves. When a harbor is full of ships it is easy for them to run against each other, particularly if they are secretly riddled by the worm of bad temper. St. John Climacus, 4 I have seen my four living children nearly grown. The youngest turns 17 tomorrow (which is quite old as we all know). Her older sisters are in their…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    A Minor Note

    January 16, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    While the world was turning and other matters of import taking place, Glory to God for All Things, crossed a half-million views today. Thanks for reading – I hope to make it worth your trouble. I simply appreciate the opportunity to think a bit and write. Blessings to all of you and a good evening. East Tennessee has had a rumor of a winter storm (which means we will likely see nothing…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Iconoclasm and Ignorance

    January 16, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    My expectations for intelligent discussion on television is close to nil. An example, on the subject of icons and statues, can be found on Handmaid Leah’s site. If you want to see the subject handled badly on television take a look. I promise a posting on the doctrine of the holy icons in the near future. My thanks to Leah for her posting this small video. We need to speak in some…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    A Common Faith

    January 15, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    There are doubtless many differences to be found between groups of Christians – though there is probably more that all Christians share than not. Orthodox Christianity generally holds to those doctrines that were at one time universal and continues to be a watershed of classical Christian faith. It is interesting that some things that many think of as distinctives of Orthodox Christianity have a wider attestation than most people know. These common…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    What Matters - A Redux

    January 15, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Occasionally it is useful to re-run some of my earliest articles on the blog. They remind me of what I’m doing, and inform newer readers of what the blog is about. The following is among my earliest: God matters and what matters to God matters. I know that sounds very redundant, but I’m not sure how else I want to say it. There are many things that do not matter – because…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Words on Prayer from the Elder Cleopa of Romania

    January 14, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    This short interview on prayer is perhaps the last film of the Elder Cleopa of Romania, one of the greatest spiritual figures of 20th century Orthodoxy. Many times in his life the authorities sought to arrest him and he would flee to the wilderness. His words are filled with reference to the Scriptures and bear the weight of an authentic life.

  • Glory to God for All Things

    All the Fullness of God

    January 13, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    A good Biblical word, used frequently in Orthodox writing and liturgy, is the word “fullness.” I think I have long preferred to say that the Orthodox Church is the “fullness” of the Christian faith, rather than say, “This is the one, true Church.” I believe it is the one, true Church, but how I understand that as an Orthodox Christian is quite different from how such a statement might be understood by…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Christianity and the One-Storey Universe - Where Do We Begin?

    January 11, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    I read an interesting article today on a blog for those who are “de-converting” or in some sense trying to get over their religious past. For some of my readers it may come as a surprise that I find this interesting – but I find it deeply fascinating. I do not think that those who find themselves in that position are terribly different than myself or many others that I know. I…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    The Remembrance of Wrongs

    January 10, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Remembrance of wrongs comes as the final point of anger. It is a keeper of sins. It hates a just way of life. It is the ruin of virtues, the poison of the soul, a worm in the mind. it is the shame of prayer, a cutting off of supplication, a turning away from love, a nail piercing the soul. It is a pleasureless feeling cherished in the sweetness of bitterness. It…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Travel Prayers

    January 10, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    I am driving through rain today (just over past Nashville – 3 hours or so away). But I’m not fond of rain. If you think of me over the day (there and back) offer a prayer for safety. It’ll be good to get back home, and out of the wet. Glory to God for all things!

  • Glory to God for All Things

    'Til My Last Breath

    January 9, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Abba Antony told Abba Poemen, “We have one great work to accomplish. Before God, we must accept responsibility for our sins, expecting to be tempted until our last breath.” For myself, as wells as others that I know, the battle against sin and temptation is, as described by the Fathers, a battle ’til our last breath. Most of the battles we fight are entirely inward – not there for anyone else’s observation.…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Preaching the Gospel to All Nations

    January 8, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    One of the striking experiences of Theophany (Jan. 6) is the public Great Blessing of the Waters. I have done this service at several rivers, once in Columbia, S.C., where the ruins of one of the older, more infamous State Prisons, overlooked the site of the blessing. To pronounce the words of blessing over the waters in sight of those ruins could not help but conjure up thoughts of the ruined walls…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Holy Russia

    January 7, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Like the returning exiles of Israel from ancient Babylon, the Russian people have been returning to a Church that was frequently devastated and constantly persecuted under 70 years of Communism. When an Orthodox Church is consecrated it is set aside “until the end of the world.” Thus you do not simply walk away from a Church gutted by the godless, but it is restored. Ā By the same token, you do not walk…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Keeping Your Eyes Open

    January 7, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    A hermit said, “Cover a donkey’s eyes and it will walk in circles around the mill wheel. If you uncover its eyes, it will not continue to walk. The devil obscures our vision and leads us into all kinds of sins. If we keep our eyes open, we will more likely escape. Keeping your eyes open is perhaps one of the harder spritual feats of our present age. So much of the…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    The Theophany in Which We Live

    January 6, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    The liturgical life of the Church makes a very clear link between the Nativity of Christ, the Theophany at His Baptism, and Pascha. Elements of Pascha run throughout the texts for the services of all three feasts, and even the icons echo one another. There is a recognition that at Nativity, Christ enters the “Winter Pascha,” becoming man, taking on even the weakness of an infant, He has embraced the same weakness…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Scenes from Theophany in Russia

    January 5, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    On Theophany, the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus, the Church celebrates the manifestation of God as Holy Trinity: Christ, the Son of God, the Voice of the Father speaking, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” and the appearance of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. Across the world, Orthodox Churches will complete this celebration with the Great blessing of waters, carrying the good…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    What's Beneath the Water? Crushed Dragons.

    January 3, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    This coming Sunday (New Calendar) marks one of the greatest feasts of the Orthodox year, the Feast of Theophany, Christ’s Baptism in the Jordan river. Across the world Orthodox Christians will gather after the Liturgy to bless the waters: the ocean, a river, a spring, etc. Ā  Every feast day in Orthodoxy is connected to the Feast of Pascha, because Pascha is God’s great act of salvation. However, some feasts show this…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Words from St. Seraphim of Sarov

    January 2, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    You cannot be too gentle, too kind. Shun even to appear harsh in your treatment of each other. Joy, radiant joy, streams from the face of him who gives and kindles joy in the heart of him who receives. All condemnation is from the devil. Never condemn each other… Instead of condemning others, strive to reach inner peace. Keep silent, refrain from judgment. This will raise you above the deadly arrows of…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Renouncing Iconoclasm

    January 1, 2008 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    I have added a new quote to the sidebar of the blog – it is from an earlier posting: We have to renounce iconoclasm. In so doing, we inherently set ourselves against certain forces within modernity. The truth is eschatological, that is, it lies in the future, but we also believe that this eschatological reality was incarnate in Christ, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega. We do not…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    The New Year

    December 31, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Many thanks to all of my readers over this past year. I add a thank you to those who have also been supporting my podcast on Ancient Faith Radio. I commend that wonderful ministry to you. My podcast is among the least on that site. They are doing a wonderful ministry for the Church. I posted three articles today (it was a holiday). On New Year’s we will celebrate the Liturgy for…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Modern Man and Coldness of Heart

    December 31, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    I have been listening to a tape of the talk, “The River of Fire,” given by Dr. Alexander Kalomiros in 1980. By now it has become a very frequently cited and discussed document within the modern Orthodox world. Despite the occasional stridency of its tone, I cannot mkae myself disagree with its conclusions. The following is from the opening remarks of the talk – and speak eloquently of the “Christian Atheism” I…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    St. John Chrysostom on the Jesus Prayer

    December 31, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Ā St. John on the Jesus Prayer: The remembrance of the name of Jesus rouses the enemy to battle. For a soul that forces itself to pray the Prayer of Jesus can find anything by this prayer, both good and evil. First it can see evil in the recesses of its own heart, and afterwards good. This prayer can stir the snake to action, and this prayer can lay it low. This prayer…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    The Grace Given To Us

    December 30, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    From the writings of the Elder Sophrony: At Vespers during Lent at the Monastery of Old Russikon-on-the-Hill the Lord allowed a certain monk to see Father Abraham, a priest-monk of the strict rule, in the image of Christ. The old confessor, weaing his priestly stole, was standing hearing confessions. When the monk entered the confessional he saw that the grey-haired confessor’s face looked young like the face of a boy, and his…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    The Nature of Things and our Salvation

    December 28, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    The nature of things is an important question to ask – or should I say an a priori question. For once we are able to state what is the nature of things then the answers to many questions framed by the nature of things will also begin to be apparent. All of this is another way of saying that questions have a way of determining answers. So what is the nature of…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Being Formed in the Tradition

    December 27, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    I watched a group of linguistic-psychologists (of varying sorts) in a panel discussion the other night (CSPAN). All of them are involved in advising political campaigns. What they know about the science of language and how people actually make decisions versus how we would like to think we make decisions was staggering. Among the most staggering of agreed pieces of data was that 98% of the process of so-called rational decisions are…

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